With training week 14 of 16 now complete, both Lacey and I are starting to get really excited for the upcoming marathon. This week was the beginning of the taper week and it was a week filled with great runs for both of us. Taper weeks are not meant to be easy weeks but rather intense to keep the two of us focused on our goal. The nice thing though about a taper week is that intensity only has to last for 40-45 miles this week and next then only 30 miles the week before the marathon, which is a stark contrast to the 60 miles a week that we hit during our peak. We are both dealing with various sore and tight muscles but with the upcoming “easy” weeks, the hope is we can go into the race feeling strong. I think Lacey is going to do amazing and I cannot wait to be there with her when she qualifies for THE BOSTON MARATHON again! The goal time of 3:30 (8:00/mile pace) qualifies her, but for those of you unfamiliar with the qualifying standards, that time comes nowhere near close to qualifying me. My hope is to train even harder after taking a few weeks off when the Atlanta Marathon is over and then run the Mercedes Marathon (Birmingham, AL) in February and the Snickers Marathon (Albany, GA) in March in hopes of running a 3:10 (7:15/mile pace). After the runs this week and the experience we have gained through this training, I am feeling more confident that I can come pretty close to qualifying early next year.
For today’s run, we had a rather challenging route around Auburn with some good climbs and rolling hills. Lacey and I were together for the first 8 miles or so and then she had to back it off a bit with some tightness in her hamstring. At this point, if any tightness or tweaks in our bodies begin to creep up during a run, its best to back it off a bit. I had to back it off a bit this past Monday. The training now is just to maintain our bodies and pushing through some tightness would just do more harm than good. Once Lacey told me she was going to slow down, I took my e-Gel and begin to push my pace. This run was the first time I had ever had a negative split for a long run, which means I ran the last half faster than a ran the first half. I ended with 16.57 miles in 2:08 (7:44/mile average pace). I think Lacey still had a great run as well, even though she would argue otherwise because we both hate it when we cannot push ourselves to the max during a run. She got 14 miles at an 8:02/mile average pace. Since we are such crazy workout freaks, we then went to the gym. Lacey did Body Pump while I flushed my legs out for a bit on the stationary bike. Then we still had not had enough, so we did an RPM cycling class.
To top the morning off, we got home and took Max to the dog park so he could get in a run as well. He really loves going to the park and it is such a beautiful day out, we could not think of anything more enjoyable to do. Now we are all tired but we get to spend the rest of the day relaxing and watching college football. WAR EAGLE and WE ARE… PENN STATE!
A side note, anyone that goes for a run longer than 14-16 miles really should try the Crank Sports e-Gel (http://www.cranksports.com). I have used Gu’s and PowerBar gel but absolutely nothing compares to the e-Gel. If you decided to buy some, use my referral number, 371454.
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